Kaleidoscope
by anissaannalise
Summary: What if they had 100 flashes? A series of drabbles about Bryce/Nicole Series & beyond. Fluffy to not so nice.
1. Ice Cube

**A/N:** This is most likely my Bryce/Nicole fic coda, lovelies (though it has no bearing on the completion of _Sync_, no worries). I enlisted in this super ambitious Summer Drabble Challenge on LJ hosted by the _Character Loft_. They gave 75 of 100 prompts & 25 are my choice. I held off posting any until I had 20 completed because you just can't know how cooperative or uncooperative the muse is going to be, but I knew if I could complete at least 20 of these, I'd be in decent enough stead.

**Overall Summary:** A series of scenes in the life of Bryce/Nicole spanning pre & post series inspired by various prompts from the Character Loft 100 Drabbles of Summer Challenge on LJ. From fluffy to not so nice in 100 words. The muse & me offer thx for reading & reviewing... it keeps us going & makes us squee. Besos! xoxo

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**Author's Choice: Ice Cube**

She laid on the couch drowsy from the heat. The rolling blackouts in the city meant no air conditioning for another two hours.

She felt his kiss on her neck. His lips were cool and she smiled at the sensation.

"No power. No World Cup. We have to do something to pass the time." he whispered in her ear.

"So is this Ice Cup?"

"Mmhm." he smiled, brandishing an ice cube between his teeth.

He left an intermittent trail of icy kisses down her neck, across her chest and headed for points beyond.

"Goal." she sighed, grateful for the blackout.


	2. Vacation

**Vacation**

Their bags lay around the room partially unpacked with random items scattered about the room. A flip flop. A tube of sunscreen. One of her bikini tops. His passport.

They'd planned on nothing short of a mad dash to the beach but somehow had lost their way.

"Not so much the beach, huh?"

"Sure it is. The bed is the ocean, the sheets are the water and the ripples are the waves." she told him.

"So we'll drift. Hold on tight."

"Don't let me go."

It was the first day of vacation and daylight was burning, not that they cared.


	3. Dawn

**Dawn**

The planks on the dock were cool beneath her feet. The lake was calm and the birds had begun chirping an hour earlier. This had been her favorite thing to do when she was a kid. She'd imagine she'd crept up in secret to spy on the morning. It seemed so long ago. Now Dad was gone. Mom was certifiable and sister Paige was over it all. She was the keeper of the memories of their time here. At least she wasn't alone anymore.

She heard Bryce's footfalls behind her and looked up at the sky.

"You're just in time."


	4. Splinter

**Author's Choice: Splinter**

Nicole pulled her hand away for the third time.

"How can it take a surgeon this many tries to get a splinter?"

"As a rule, my patients don't cringe and pull away during procedures. Makes my job a lot easier." Bryce chuckled. "Let's take a break."

She leaned back against him. He kissed her neck. She closed her eyes. He held her wrist, rubbing the inside with his thumb. The pleasure from his kisses offset the pain in her finger. She sighed and felt a sharp pain that just as quickly subsided.

She looked down and smiled. No more splinter.


	5. Greed

**Greed **

It was never enough, their time together. But after a month of more double shifts than he cared to think about this weekend was supposed to be theirs. He wasn't on call but when he heard his pager, he knew he kinda was.

She rolled over, barely awake and asked her question by grabbing his wrist lightly. It was all the incentive he needed to ignore his pager a little while longer. He slipped back between the covers, she sidled up and they embraced. Awake or asleep he didn't care as long as they were close.

"Just fifteen minutes more."


	6. Accidental Discovery

**Accidental Discovery**

She'd been looking for the box he kept his senior thesis in. He'd said it was packed away with a bunch of stuff from his undergrad. She smiled when she came upon a box with the Blue Devil's sticker. She opened the box and sat back surprised.

It made sense to her that most likely rummaging around in the boyfriend's bedroom closet was a potential mine field. A place where one might be likely to happen upon the ex-girlfriend cache and even the porn stash. She'd been prepared for those situations.

It never occurred to her she'd find a gun.


	7. Fireworks

**Fireworks**

From his vantage point, he could see the headlights from her car as she cut through the canyon in the darkness. He could tell it was her by the way she took the curves. All coast and no brakes. She came around the last curve and swung into the driveway with carefree fluidity before bounding out of her car.

He couldn't help but laugh as she waved and ran around the side of the house. He met her at the edge of the roof, offering his hand when she climbed up.

Nicole grabbed his hand just as the fireworks began.


	8. Camp

**Camp**

"This is going to be awesome." Bryce said enthusiastically as he began unpacking the car.

Nicole wasn't convinced as she looked around the clearing.

"I'm more a camping _cabin_ kind of girl. Not so much about the tent and sleeping bags."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"Every single horror movie theme comes to mind. Pick an Eli Roth movie."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Wherever the Wi-Fi stopped. We're out in East Ass Scratch Nowhere. Did you bring a satellite phone?"

"Yes, safety girl. We're good." he chuckled and pulled her close.

"Fine... so how's this tent thing go?"


	9. Temperance

**Temperance**

This was about singular perfection. Quality over quantity.

Not that a plethora wasn't a worthy endeavor.

They'd gone from parting with a series of good, toe curling kisses to fewer but better ones. The kind that left them dazed but able to at least tear themselves away and stop running perpetually late everywhere.

Their lips parted.

"So... later." He was staring at her mouth, wanting to claim or be claimed by it again.

"Yeah, later." She was breathless and knew she had somewhere to be.

The goodbye kiss. Enough to close a moment and enough to make you crave more.


	10. Wrath

**A/N:** I've found that I quite enjoy writing Bryce/Nicole when they're not so nice. The result of passion isn't always pretty but that's part of the fun. Anyway, I'm still chipping away at the drabble challenge, so prod my muse & let me know which you're enjoying the most. Besos! xoxo

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**Wrath **

The fuse had really been lit hours before when they'd argued in the driveway. It had been doused by her guilt and a lingering daze after nearly drowning. But as that lifted and time passed the clarity of the situation struck her.

Now he was telling her about his flashforward. Asking her what she saw. What it must mean. Like she gave a damn. She stopped listening. All the events of the past twenty-four hours tumbled and cascaded in her mind.

She opened her mouth to speak.

It was all about to blow up and he never saw it coming.


	11. Sloth

**Sloth**

He could see how it was going to end. He was going to tell her, caution her to be careful. But she'd stopped and talked to that guy. That annoyed him but he was still going to tell her. And then she caught his eye and gave him something between a scowl and a smirk. She finished it by rolling her eyes and then turning away.

Then he knew, he'd say nothing.

She turned on her heel and took three steps before it happened. She slipped on the unseen puddle and came crashing down.

He smirked, turned and walked away.


	12. Bug

**Bug**

For Nicole, it had begun with spilt coffee on her white tee shirt. For Bryce, it was the bird flying overhead that made a well aimed deposit on his jacket.

Last pen out of ink. Magnetic strip erasing a bank card. Parking ticket. Stuck in an elevator. Paper cut. Password reset. Lost keys. Dropped calls. Stuck in traffic. Incinerated popcorn. Lost earring. Lost dinner reservations.

A pile of cosmic jokes played throughout the day.

But none of that mattered now. Tonight they had each other as they sat poolside. A ladybug took a well deserved rest on their entwined hands.


	13. Envy

**Envy**

Flipping through the canvasses she stopped as she came across one all too familiar. She'd told Bryce he should keep this one. It was the best he'd done. Even now seeing the portrait he'd done of Keiko bothered her.

It wasn't that she questioned where she ranked in his heart. It was a reminder of when she was envious of someone she'd never met. She didn't like to remember she'd been that person. It was more an instrument of sabotage of the one thing she'd wanted than the real woman ever had been.

Remembering was her penance for the past.


	14. Pride

**Pride**

He watched her storm off and couldn't believe what he'd done. Things had been going well. They were finally talking. He'd wanted nothing more than to get to that moment for weeks. And then, he'd shot it all to shit.

He didn't even remember what she'd said. Or if it hadn't been what she'd said but how she'd said it that pissed him off. Whatever. He'd completely overreacted.

He was astounded by his innate ability to go, at breakneck speed, from the heights of pride in one moment to the depths of complete stupidity the next.

Back to square one.


	15. Industry

**Pic: Ants on Picnic Cloth (Industry)**

He'd seen this before. When she was stressed out she went on cleaning jags. She'd rearranged and organized all his closets the first time. Now she was dismantling, cleaning and organizing the kitchen. He decided to skip that bowl of cereal.

Her ponytailed hair damp with sweat, she scrubbed the counter furiously. He knew she wasn't ready to talk.

"Come here." He took her by a soapy hand and pulled her into an embrace. "Whenever you want to talk about it, I'll listen."

She smiled and hugged him tighter. He hoped he would be able to locate the spoons tomorrow.


	16. Last Time You Were Late

**#45 The last time you were late**

He called her again and left a message. It wasn't like her not to call him back. Not this long anyway. Especially if she was running late.

An hour later she tumbled through the door, breathless and laden with bags of various utility.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late."

"Hey you." He smiled and unburdened her.

"What?" She could tell he wanted to say something.

"Nothing. I was just a little worried cause you didn't call me back."

"Sorry. My battery died. Just running late."

"No problem." he said and then thought _"The last time you were late, I almost lost you." _


	17. Silence

**#79 Author's Choice: Silence**

"Wow. The silent treatment. Really?"

Watching her storm off, Bryce decided that she was the one with the problem. If this was how she was going to be, he'd no interest in trying to talk to her.

It'd been a whole day of her pulling this nonsense and he was sick of it. He was done. If this was her way to get him to chase her down, that wasn't happening either.

It was just as well she walked because now he was sure nothing good was going to come of what he was inclined to say to her now.


	18. Charity

**#14 Charity**

Nicole raised her eyebrow in a glare but said nothing. Instead she turned and walked away. It wasn't the silent treatment she was giving him. It was the biggest kindness in the world she was extending by not opening her mouth and letting every bit of rancor she had at the moment spill out.

His reducing her silence down to some trite couples cliche made her want to just strangle him. If not for his being so given to extreme fits of impulse they wouldn't even be in this situation.

How had she mistaken his charisma for childishness so along?


	19. Lust

**#9 Lust**

She contemplated the bowl of long stemmed strawberries and accompanying pitcher of double cream. He knew exactly how to make her morning.

He watched her enjoying her indulgence and considered his own. She was perfection in a yellow dress with sunlight in her hair.

Sunday morning had been met with good intentions and higher minded plans. But it never had a chance. A shared look. Licked lips. Eyes asking a question. A slight shrug in answer. Plans changed and intentions weren't just good, they were grand.

Wimbledon played out on the screen before a half empty bowl and discarded dress.


End file.
